“You’re spending the night here,” Hayden declares.
I spin in my seat to look at Alex. Thankfully, he looks as surprised as I feel, or I would think that he planned this entire thing beforehand to trap me out in the suburbs.
“We have plenty of room,” Hayden adds. “And you’ll have privacy.”
“Privacy for what?” I sputter.
Alex clears his throat. “Privacy is good.”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. “Have you lost your mind? I need to go home.”
“It’ll be too late by the time we’re done here,” Hayden says. “So you spend the night, then Alex can take you home sometime tomorrow.”
“Too late?”
I don’t understand what’s happening right now. They are ganging up on me, and I have no options and no allies to help me.
“What is the plan for the rest of the night? Play charades?”
I’m only joking but regret suggesting it when I notice Alex’s head bobbing up and down while his friends all nod in approval.
“We’ll have a game night,” Hayden yells out. “That’s brilliant. We’ll start a tradition. Why didn’t I think of it?”
I turn to face Alex. “This is weird, and I will kick your ass if you don’t tell me what’s going on here.”
He just puts his hands up and shrugs. “It’s game night.”
I cross my arms over my chest and pout. I get the sense that I’ve already been played.
TWENTY-FOUR
Alex
I’ve never beenthe philosophical type, but now, as I watch Mona’s animated face while playing charades with my friends, I realize that I’ve been wasting my life up until I met her, and then I completely ruined it during the course of my relationship with her.
Now, I am trying to salvage whatever is left of it, and I am scared that she’d rather walk away than give me another chance.
“Titanic!”
I jump when Kyle yells his answer over the voices of everyone else. Mona throws her arms up.
“Yes! We won!”
I grin when she lunges at me, jumping into my arms. With no warning, she presses her lips against mine, and she doesn’t let go. I open my mouth, ready to take the kiss as far as she’ll let me.
The guys start catcalling, some louder than the others, with Kyle being our loudest cheerleader.
“Yo, dude, I didn’t know you were into public displays of… affection.”
Mona bursts into giggles. I’m pretty sure the cocktails Hayden has been pumping into her have a lot to do with it and how affectionate she is toward me. But I’m not complaining.
“This is so much fun,” she whispers.
I touch my nose to hers, unable to look away. “It is. Thank you for coming.”
“Thank you for inviting me.” She lets out a giggle again, this time followed by a hiccup.
She is so damn cute, I can’t help but squeezing her harder to my chest. Nothing can wipe the grin present on my face in this moment. Mona rests her head against my chest and sighs.
